Vote counting in Angola begins, preliminary results favor the MPLA

Angola elections day closed without any major incidents reported.

The ruling MPLA, which has been in power for close to 50 years, has a significant lead over the major opposition UNITA, according to preliminary election results released on Thursday. UNITA believes the data are unreliable

With more 33% of the votes counted by Thursday morning, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) said the first provisional results showed the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led since 2017 by President Joao Lourenco, garnered 60.65% of the vote.

According to CNE, the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Adalberto Costa Junior, garnered 33.85% of the vote.

The nation has not witnessed an election as contested as this one. UNITA's share increased from 13% in 2019 to 22% in May, according to an Afrobarometer study.

Even if the MPLA is currently ahead by seven points, over half of the electorate was divided. 60% of the population of southern Africa is under the age of 25, and many of them were casting their first votes.

The call to the polls for these general elections has had an effect, especially in Luanda, where some of the busiest avenues have been deserted throughout the day for the Euronews reporting team, now waiting in Angola for the first official results to be announced.